RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
Network Working Group W. Stevens Request for Comments: 2292 Consultant Category: Informational M. Thomas AltaVista February 1998
Advanced Sockets API for IPv6
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
Specifications are in progress for changes to the sockets API to support IP version 6 [RFC-2133]. These changes are for TCP and UDP-based applications and will support most end-user applications in use today: Telnet and FTP clients and servers, HTTP clients and servers, and the like.
But another class of applications exists that will also be run under IPv6. We call these “advanced” applications and today this includes programs such as Ping, Traceroute, routing daemons, multicast routing daemons, router discovery daemons, and the like. The API feature typically used by these programs that make them “advanced” is a raw socket to access ICMPv4, IGMPv4, or IPv4, along with some knowledge of the packet header formats used by these protocols. To provide portability for applications that use raw sockets under IPv6, some standardization is needed for the advanced API features.
There are other features of IPv6 that some applications will need to access: interface identification (specifying the outgoing interface and determining the incoming interface) and IPv6 extension headers that are not addressed in [RFC-2133]: Hop-by-Hop options, Destination options, and the Routing header (source routing). This document provides API access to these features too.
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 1]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ...3
2. Common Structures and Definitions ...5
2.1. The ip6_hdr Structure ...5
2.1.1. IPv6 Next Header Values ...6
2.1.2. IPv6 Extension Headers ...6
2.2. The icmp6_hdr Structure ...8
2.2.1. ICMPv6 Type and Code Values ...8
2.2.2. ICMPv6 Neighbor Discovery Type and Code Values ..9
2.3. Address Testing Macros ...12
2.4. Protocols File ...12
3. IPv6 Raw Sockets ...13
3.1. Checksums ...14
3.2. ICMPv6 Type Filtering ...14
4. Ancillary Data ...17
4.1. The msghdr Structure ...18
4.2. The cmsghdr Structure ...18
4.3. Ancillary Data Object Macros ...19
4.3.1. CMSG_FIRSTHDR ...20
4.3.2. CMSG_NXTHDR ...22
4.3.3. CMSG_DATA ...22
4.3.4. CMSG_SPACE ...22
4.3.5. CMSG_LEN ...22
4.4. Summary of Options Described Using Ancillary Data ...23
4.5. IPV6_PKTOPTIONS Socket Option ...24
4.5.1. TCP Sticky Options ...25
4.5.2. UDP and Raw Socket Sticky Options ...26
5. Packet Information ...26
5.1. Specifying/Receiving the Interface ...27
5.2. Specifying/Receiving Source/Destination Address ...27
5.3. Specifying/Receiving the Hop Limit ...28
5.4. Specifying the Next Hop Address ...29
5.5. Additional Errors with sendmsg() ...29
6. Hop-By-Hop Options ...30
6.1. Receiving Hop-by-Hop Options ...31
6.2. Sending Hop-by-Hop Options ...31
6.3. Hop-by-Hop and Destination Options Processing ...32
6.3.1. inet6_option_space ...32
6.3.2. inet6_option_init ...32
6.3.3. inet6_option_append ...33
6.3.4. inet6_option_alloc ...33
6.3.5. inet6_option_next ...34
6.3.6. inet6_option_find ...35
6.3.7. Options Examples ...35
7. Destination Options ...42
7.1. Receiving Destination Options ...42
7.2. Sending Destination Options ...43 Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 2]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
8. Routing Header Option ...43
8.1. inet6_rthdr_space ...44
8.2. inet6_rthdr_init ...45
8.3. inet6_rthdr_add ...45
8.4. inet6_rthdr_lasthop ...46
8.5. inet6_rthdr_reverse ...46
8.6. inet6_rthdr_segments ...46
8.7. inet6_rthdr_getaddr ...46
8.8. inet6_rthdr_getflags ...47
8.9. Routing Header Example ...47
9. Ordering of Ancillary Data and IPv6 Extension Headers ...53
10. IPv6-Specific Options with IPv4-Mapped IPv6 Addresses ...54
11. rresvport_af ...55
12. Future Items ...55
12.1. Flow Labels ...55
12.2. Path MTU Discovery and UDP ...56
12.3. Neighbor Reachability and UDP ...56
13. Summary of New Definitions ...56
14. Security Considerations ...59
15. Change History ...59
16. References ...65
17. Acknowledgments ...65
18. Authors’ Addresses ...66
19. Full Copyright Statement ...67 1. Introduction
Specifications are in progress for changes to the sockets API to support IP version 6 [RFC-2133]. These changes are for TCP and UDP-based applications. The current document defines some the “advanced”
features of the sockets API that are required for applications to take advantage of additional features of IPv6.
Today, the portability of applications using IPv4 raw sockets is quite high, but this is mainly because most IPv4 implementations started from a common base (the Berkeley source code) or at least started with the Berkeley headers. This allows programs such as Ping and Traceroute, for example, to compile with minimal effort on many hosts that support the sockets API. With IPv6, however, there is no common source code base that implementors are starting from, and the possibility for divergence at this level between different
implementations is high. To avoid a complete lack of portability amongst applications that use raw IPv6 sockets, some standardization is necessary.
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 3]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
There are also features from the basic IPv6 specification that are not addressed in [RFC-2133]: sending and receiving Hop-by-Hop options, Destination options, and Routing headers, specifying the outgoing interface, and being told of the receiving interface.
This document can be divided into the following main sections.
1. Definitions of the basic constants and structures required for applications to use raw IPv6 sockets. This includes structure definitions for the IPv6 and ICMPv6 headers and all associated constants (e.g., values for the Next Header field).
2. Some basic semantic definitions for IPv6 raw sockets. For example, a raw ICMPv4 socket requires the application to calculate and store the ICMPv4 header checksum. But with IPv6 this would require the application to choose the source IPv6 address because the source address is part of the pseudo header that ICMPv6 now uses for its checksum computation. It should be defined that with a raw ICMPv6 socket the kernel always
calculates and stores the ICMPv6 header checksum.
3. Packet information: how applications can obtain the received interface, destination address, and received hop limit, along with specifying these values on a per-packet basis. There are a class of applications that need this capability and the technique should be portable.
4. Access to the optional Hop-by-Hop, Destination, and Routing headers.
5. Additional features required for IPv6 application portability.
The packet information along with access to the extension headers (Hop-by-Hop options, Destination options, and Routing header) are specified using the “ancillary data” fields that were added to the 4.3BSD Reno sockets API in 1990. The reason is that these ancillary data fields are part of the Posix.1g standard (which should be approved in 1997) and should therefore be adopted by most vendors.
This document does not address application access to either the authentication header or the encapsulating security payload header.
All examples in this document omit error checking in favor of brevity and clarity.
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 4]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
We note that many of the functions and socket options defined in this document may have error returns that are not defined in this
document. Many of these possible error returns will be recognized only as implementations proceed.
Datatypes in this document follow the Posix.1g format: intN_t means a signed integer of exactly N bits (e.g., int16_t) and uintN_t means an unsigned integer of exactly N bits (e.g., uint32_t).
Note that we use the (unofficial) terminology ICMPv4, IGMPv4, and ARPv4 to avoid any confusion with the newer ICMPv6 protocol.
2. Common Structures and Definitions
Many advanced applications examine fields in the IPv6 header and set and examine fields in the various ICMPv6 headers. Common structure definitions for these headers are required, along with common constant definitions for the structure members.
Two new headers are defined: <netinet/ip6.h> and <netinet/icmp6.h>.
When an include file is specified, that include file is allowed to include other files that do the actual declaration or definition.
2.1. The ip6_hdr Structure
The following structure is defined as a result of including
<netinet/ip6.h>. Note that this is a new header.
struct ip6_hdr { union {
struct ip6_hdrctl {
uint32_t ip6_un1_flow; /* 24 bits of flow-ID */
uint16_t ip6_un1_plen; /* payload length */
uint8_t ip6_un1_nxt; /* next header */
uint8_t ip6_un1_hlim; /* hop limit */
} ip6_un1;
uint8_t ip6_un2_vfc; /* 4 bits version, 4 bits priority */
} ip6_ctlun;
struct in6_addr ip6_src; /* source address */
struct in6_addr ip6_dst; /* destination address */
};
#define ip6_vfc ip6_ctlun.ip6_un2_vfc
#define ip6_flow ip6_ctlun.ip6_un1.ip6_un1_flow
#define ip6_plen ip6_ctlun.ip6_un1.ip6_un1_plen
#define ip6_nxt ip6_ctlun.ip6_un1.ip6_un1_nxt
#define ip6_hlim ip6_ctlun.ip6_un1.ip6_un1_hlim
#define ip6_hops ip6_ctlun.ip6_un1.ip6_un1_hlim
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 5]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
2.1.1. IPv6 Next Header Values
IPv6 defines many new values for the Next Header field. The following constants are defined as a result of including
<netinet/in.h>.
#define IPPROTO_HOPOPTS 0 /* IPv6 Hop-by-Hop options */
#define IPPROTO_IPV6 41 /* IPv6 header */
#define IPPROTO_ROUTING 43 /* IPv6 Routing header */
#define IPPROTO_FRAGMENT 44 /* IPv6 fragmentation header */
#define IPPROTO_ESP 50 /* encapsulating security payload */
#define IPPROTO_AH 51 /* authentication header */
#define IPPROTO_ICMPV6 58 /* ICMPv6 */
#define IPPROTO_NONE 59 /* IPv6 no next header */
#define IPPROTO_DSTOPTS 60 /* IPv6 Destination options */
Berkeley-derived IPv4 implementations also define IPPROTO_IP to be 0.
This should not be a problem since IPPROTO_IP is used only with IPv4 sockets and IPPROTO_HOPOPTS only with IPv6 sockets.
2.1.2. IPv6 Extension Headers
Six extension headers are defined for IPv6. We define structures for all except the Authentication header and Encapsulating Security Payload header, both of which are beyond the scope of this document.
The following structures are defined as a result of including
<netinet/ip6.h>.
/* Hop-by-Hop options header */
/* XXX should we pad it to force alignment on an 8-byte boundary? */
struct ip6_hbh {
uint8_t ip6h_nxt; /* next header */
uint8_t ip6h_len; /* length in units of 8 octets */
/* followed by options */
};
/* Destination options header */
/* XXX should we pad it to force alignment on an 8-byte boundary? */
struct ip6_dest {
uint8_t ip6d_nxt; /* next header */
uint8_t ip6d_len; /* length in units of 8 octets */
/* followed by options */
};
/* Routing header */
struct ip6_rthdr {
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 6]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
uint8_t ip6r_nxt; /* next header */
uint8_t ip6r_len; /* length in units of 8 octets */
uint8_t ip6r_type; /* routing type */
uint8_t ip6r_segleft; /* segments left */
/* followed by routing type specific data */
};
/* Type 0 Routing header */
struct ip6_rthdr0 {
uint8_t ip6r0_nxt; /* next header */
uint8_t ip6r0_len; /* length in units of 8 octets */
uint8_t ip6r0_type; /* always zero */
uint8_t ip6r0_segleft; /* segments left */
uint8_t ip6r0_reserved; /* reserved field */
uint8_t ip6r0_slmap[3]; /* strict/loose bit map */
struct in6_addr ip6r0_addr[1]; /* up to 23 addresses */
};
/* Fragment header */
struct ip6_frag {
uint8_t ip6f_nxt; /* next header */
uint8_t ip6f_reserved; /* reserved field */
uint16_t ip6f_offlg; /* offset, reserved, and flag */
uint32_t ip6f_ident; /* identification */
};
#if BYTE_ORDER == BIG_ENDIAN
#define IP6F_OFF_MASK 0xfff8 /* mask out offset from _offlg */
#define IP6F_RESERVED_MASK 0x0006 /* reserved bits in ip6f_offlg */
#define IP6F_MORE_FRAG 0x0001 /* more-fragments flag */
#else /* BYTE_ORDER == LITTLE_ENDIAN */
#define IP6F_OFF_MASK 0xf8ff /* mask out offset from _offlg */
#define IP6F_RESERVED_MASK 0x0600 /* reserved bits in ip6f_offlg */
#define IP6F_MORE_FRAG 0x0100 /* more-fragments flag */
#endif
Defined constants for fields larger than 1 byte depend on the byte ordering that is used. This API assumes that the fields in the protocol headers are left in the network byte order, which is big-endian for the Internet protocols. If not, then either these constants or the fields being tested must be converted at run-time, using something like htons() or htonl().
(Note: We show an implementation that supports both big-endian and little-endian byte ordering, assuming a hypothetical compile-time #if test to determine the byte ordering. The constant that we show,
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 7]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
BYTE_ORDER, with values of BIG_ENDIAN and LITTLE_ENDIAN, are for example purposes only. If an implementation runs on only one type of hardware it need only define the set of constants for that hardware’s byte ordering.)
2.2. The icmp6_hdr Structure
The ICMPv6 header is needed by numerous IPv6 applications including Ping, Traceroute, router discovery daemons, and neighbor discovery daemons. The following structure is defined as a result of including
<netinet/icmp6.h>. Note that this is a new header.
struct icmp6_hdr {
uint8_t icmp6_type; /* type field */
uint8_t icmp6_code; /* code field */
uint16_t icmp6_cksum; /* checksum field */
union {
uint32_t icmp6_un_data32[1]; /* type-specific field */
uint16_t icmp6_un_data16[2]; /* type-specific field */
uint8_t icmp6_un_data8[4]; /* type-specific field */
} icmp6_dataun;
};
#define icmp6_data32 icmp6_dataun.icmp6_un_data32
#define icmp6_data16 icmp6_dataun.icmp6_un_data16
#define icmp6_data8 icmp6_dataun.icmp6_un_data8
#define icmp6_pptr icmp6_data32[0] /* parameter prob */
#define icmp6_mtu icmp6_data32[0] /* packet too big */
#define icmp6_id icmp6_data16[0] /* echo request/reply */
#define icmp6_seq icmp6_data16[1] /* echo request/reply */
#define icmp6_maxdelay icmp6_data16[0] /* mcast group membership */
2.2.1. ICMPv6 Type and Code Values
In addition to a common structure for the ICMPv6 header, common definitions are required for the ICMPv6 type and code fields. The following constants are also defined as a result of including
<netinet/icmp6.h>.
#define ICMP6_DST_UNREACH 1
#define ICMP6_PACKET_TOO_BIG 2
#define ICMP6_TIME_EXCEEDED 3
#define ICMP6_PARAM_PROB 4
#define ICMP6_INFOMSG_MASK 0x80 /* all informational messages */ #define ICMP6_ECHO_REQUEST 128
#define ICMP6_ECHO_REPLY 129
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 8]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
#define ICMP6_MEMBERSHIP_QUERY 130
#define ICMP6_MEMBERSHIP_REPORT 131
#define ICMP6_MEMBERSHIP_REDUCTION 132
#define ICMP6_DST_UNREACH_NOROUTE 0 /* no route to destination */
#define ICMP6_DST_UNREACH_ADMIN 1 /* communication with */
/* destination */
/* administratively */
/* prohibited */
#define ICMP6_DST_UNREACH_NOTNEIGHBOR 2 /* not a neighbor */
#define ICMP6_DST_UNREACH_ADDR 3 /* address unreachable */
#define ICMP6_DST_UNREACH_NOPORT 4 /* bad port */
#define ICMP6_TIME_EXCEED_TRANSIT 0 /* Hop Limit == 0 in transit */
#define ICMP6_TIME_EXCEED_REASSEMBLY 1 /* Reassembly time out */
#define ICMP6_PARAMPROB_HEADER 0 /* erroneous header field */
#define ICMP6_PARAMPROB_NEXTHEADER 1 /* unrecognized Next Header */
#define ICMP6_PARAMPROB_OPTION 2 /* unrecognized IPv6 option */
The five ICMP message types defined by IPv6 neighbor discovery (133-137) are defined in the next section.
2.2.2. ICMPv6 Neighbor Discovery Type and Code Values
The following structures and definitions are defined as a result of including <netinet/icmp6.h>.
#define ND_ROUTER_SOLICIT 133
#define ND_ROUTER_ADVERT 134
#define ND_NEIGHBOR_SOLICIT 135
#define ND_NEIGHBOR_ADVERT 136
#define ND_REDIRECT 137
struct nd_router_solicit { /* router solicitation */
struct icmp6_hdr nd_rs_hdr;
/* could be followed by options */
};
#define nd_rs_type nd_rs_hdr.icmp6_type
#define nd_rs_code nd_rs_hdr.icmp6_code
#define nd_rs_cksum nd_rs_hdr.icmp6_cksum
#define nd_rs_reserved nd_rs_hdr.icmp6_data32[0]
struct nd_router_advert { /* router advertisement */
struct icmp6_hdr nd_ra_hdr;
uint32_t nd_ra_reachable; /* reachable time */
uint32_t nd_ra_retransmit; /* retransmit timer */
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 9]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
/* could be followed by options */
};
#define nd_ra_type nd_ra_hdr.icmp6_type
#define nd_ra_code nd_ra_hdr.icmp6_code
#define nd_ra_cksum nd_ra_hdr.icmp6_cksum
#define nd_ra_curhoplimit nd_ra_hdr.icmp6_data8[0]
#define nd_ra_flags_reserved nd_ra_hdr.icmp6_data8[1]
#define ND_RA_FLAG_MANAGED 0x80
#define ND_RA_FLAG_OTHER 0x40
#define nd_ra_router_lifetime nd_ra_hdr.icmp6_data16[1]
struct nd_neighbor_solicit { /* neighbor solicitation */
struct icmp6_hdr nd_ns_hdr;
struct in6_addr nd_ns_target; /* target address */
/* could be followed by options */
};
#define nd_ns_type nd_ns_hdr.icmp6_type
#define nd_ns_code nd_ns_hdr.icmp6_code
#define nd_ns_cksum nd_ns_hdr.icmp6_cksum
#define nd_ns_reserved nd_ns_hdr.icmp6_data32[0]
struct nd_neighbor_advert { /* neighbor advertisement */
struct icmp6_hdr nd_na_hdr;
struct in6_addr nd_na_target; /* target address */
/* could be followed by options */
};
#define nd_na_type nd_na_hdr.icmp6_type
#define nd_na_code nd_na_hdr.icmp6_code
#define nd_na_cksum nd_na_hdr.icmp6_cksum
#define nd_na_flags_reserved nd_na_hdr.icmp6_data32[0]
#if BYTE_ORDER == BIG_ENDIAN
#define ND_NA_FLAG_ROUTER 0x80000000
#define ND_NA_FLAG_SOLICITED 0x40000000
#define ND_NA_FLAG_OVERRIDE 0x20000000
#else /* BYTE_ORDER == LITTLE_ENDIAN */
#define ND_NA_FLAG_ROUTER 0x00000080
#define ND_NA_FLAG_SOLICITED 0x00000040
#define ND_NA_FLAG_OVERRIDE 0x00000020
#endif
struct nd_redirect { /* redirect */
struct icmp6_hdr nd_rd_hdr;
struct in6_addr nd_rd_target; /* target address */
struct in6_addr nd_rd_dst; /* destination address */
/* could be followed by options */
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 10]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
};
#define nd_rd_type nd_rd_hdr.icmp6_type
#define nd_rd_code nd_rd_hdr.icmp6_code
#define nd_rd_cksum nd_rd_hdr.icmp6_cksum
#define nd_rd_reserved nd_rd_hdr.icmp6_data32[0]
struct nd_opt_hdr { /* Neighbor discovery option header */
uint8_t nd_opt_type;
uint8_t nd_opt_len; /* in units of 8 octets */
/* followed by option specific data */
};
#define ND_OPT_SOURCE_LINKADDR 1
#define ND_OPT_TARGET_LINKADDR 2
#define ND_OPT_PREFIX_INFORMATION 3
#define ND_OPT_REDIRECTED_HEADER 4
#define ND_OPT_MTU 5
struct nd_opt_prefix_info { /* prefix information */
uint8_t nd_opt_pi_type;
uint8_t nd_opt_pi_len;
uint8_t nd_opt_pi_prefix_len;
uint8_t nd_opt_pi_flags_reserved;
uint32_t nd_opt_pi_valid_time;
uint32_t nd_opt_pi_preferred_time;
uint32_t nd_opt_pi_reserved2;
struct in6_addr nd_opt_pi_prefix;
};
#define ND_OPT_PI_FLAG_ONLINK 0x80
#define ND_OPT_PI_FLAG_AUTO 0x40
struct nd_opt_rd_hdr { /* redirected header */
uint8_t nd_opt_rh_type;
uint8_t nd_opt_rh_len;
uint16_t nd_opt_rh_reserved1;
uint32_t nd_opt_rh_reserved2;
/* followed by IP header and data */
};
struct nd_opt_mtu { /* MTU option */
uint8_t nd_opt_mtu_type;
uint8_t nd_opt_mtu_len;
uint16_t nd_opt_mtu_reserved;
uint32_t nd_opt_mtu_mtu;
};
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 11]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
We note that the nd_na_flags_reserved flags have the same byte ordering problems as we discussed with ip6f_offlg.
2.3. Address Testing Macros
The basic API ([RFC-2133]) defines some macros for testing an IPv6 address for certain properties. This API extends those definitions with additional address testing macros, defined as a result of including <netinet/in.h>.
int IN6_ARE_ADDR_EQUAL(const struct in6_addr *, const struct in6_addr *);
2.4. Protocols File
Many hosts provide the file /etc/protocols that contains the names of the various IP protocols and their protocol number (e.g., the value of the protocol field in the IPv4 header for that protocol, such as 1 for ICMP). Some programs then call the function getprotobyname() to obtain the protocol value that is then specified as the third
argument to the socket() function. For example, the Ping program contains code of the form
struct protoent *proto;
proto = getprotobyname(“icmp”);
s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_RAW, proto->p_proto);
Common names are required for the new IPv6 protocols in this file, to provide portability of applications that call the getprotoXXX() functions.
We define the following protocol names with the values shown. These are taken from ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/protocol-numbers.
hopopt 0 # hop-by-hop options for ipv6 ipv6 41 # ipv6
ipv6-route 43 # routing header for ipv6 ipv6-frag 44 # fragment header for ipv6
esp 50 # encapsulating security payload for ipv6 ah 51 # authentication header for ipv6
ipv6-icmp 58 # icmp for ipv6
ipv6-nonxt 59 # no next header for ipv6 ipv6-opts 60 # destination options for ipv6
Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 12]
RFC 2292 Advanced Sockets API for IPv6 February 1998
3. IPv6 Raw Sockets
Raw sockets bypass the transport layer (TCP or UDP). With IPv4, raw sockets are used to access ICMPv4, IGMPv4, and to read and write IPv4 datagrams containing a protocol field that the kernel does not
process. An example of the latter is a routing daemon for OSPF, since it uses IPv4 protocol field 89. With IPv6 raw sockets will be used for ICMPv6 and to read and write IPv6 datagrams containing a Next Header field that the kernel does not process. Examples of the latter are a routing daemon for OSPF for IPv6 and RSVP (protocol field 46).
All data sent via raw sockets MUST be in network byte order and all data received via raw sockets will be in network byte order. This differs from the IPv4 raw sockets, which did not specify a byte ordering and typically used the host’s byte order.
Another difference from IPv4 raw sockets is that complete packets (that is, IPv6 packets with extension headers) cannot be read or written using the IPv6 raw sockets API. Instead, ancillary data objects are used to transfer the extension headers, as described later in this document. Should an application need access to the complete IPv6 packet, some other technique, such as the datalink interfaces BPF or DLPI, must be used.
All fields in the IPv6 header that an application might want to change (i.e., everything other than the version number) can be modified using ancillary data and/or socket options by the
application for output. All fields in a received IPv6 header (other than the version number and Next Header fields) and all extension headers are also made available to the application as ancillary data on input. Hence there is no need for a socket option similar to the IPv4 IP_HDRINCL socket option.
When writing to a raw socket the kernel will automatically fragment the packet if its size exceeds the path MTU, inserting the required fragmentation headers. On input the kernel reassembles received fragments, so the reader of a raw socket never sees any fragment headers.
When we say “an ICMPv6 raw socket” we mean a socket created by calling the socket function with the three arguments PF_INET6, SOCK_RAW, and IPPROTO_ICMPV6.
Most IPv4 implementations give special treatment to a raw socket created with a third argument to socket() of IPPROTO_RAW, whose value is normally 255. We note that this value has no special meaning to an IPv6 raw socket (and the IANA currently reserves the value of 255 Stevens & Thomas Informational [Page 13]